Ah! The 30's, 40's and beyond.

Looking back, I now realize that my younger sister and I lived in a dramatic time in the history of the world - that is, in the 1930's and 1940's (the second decade of my life). At the time, we had only a vague vision of what the future had in store for us, or anyone.   Read more...

And the winner goes to...Portland, OR (again) as the top rated sustainable city in the U.S. for 2008.

Now in its third edition, the peer-reviewed Rankings track the unfolding story of cities working to improve their residents' quality of life and sustainability efforts. Their methodology included ranking items such as commute to work, air quality, tap water quality, local food & agriculture, housing affordability, city innovation and more.   Read more...

Change may be a big buzzword this year, but chances are you've been undergoing change - or anticipating it - for quite some time. There's a new website dedicated to helping people get through and become better at every kind of change called www.first30days.com.

There are over 60 topics to choose from, in topic areas ranging from Career to Relationships to Family and Health. Popular changes include Divorce, Making Change Easier, Improving Your Sex Life, Finding Your Dream Job and Getting In Shape.   Read more...

You purchase organic cotton bedding and pesticide-free fruits and vegetables. At home, you use a vacuum with a HEPA filter and make sure that your children wash their hands before eating. But are you hiding skeletons under the sink or in the closet? I’m referring to chemical-based, conventional cleaning products - those bottles usually marked, per federal regulation, with a skull-and-crossbones logo.

In the US, accidental ingestion of chemical-based cleaning products accounts for many trips to the emergency room and calls to the Poison Control Center. Bleach is a strong corrosive and may cause pulmonary edema or coma if ingested, while ammonia can damage the eyes, respiratory tract, and skin. These aren’t the only harmful ingredients in conventional cleaning products, but manufacturers purposely omit many dangerous ingredients from labels. Additionally, chemical cleaning products end up in our waterways, soil, and landfills, where they contribute to oxygen-depleted ocean dead-zones, release harmful gases into our air, and poison both humans and wildlife.   Read more...

Celebrating 10 years in Africa, the Sept - Dec 2008 blog party At christinaswwworld.com is a time and space where I'm winding down, winding up and winding on about whatever it is that's meant to come next in my global life as a social entrepreneur with cyberwings.

Along the way I'll be piloting some new fun and games for raising social capital online and making other good things happen (in your life, in my life, and in the lives of others). Watch, learn with me, think, please comment, and be sure to look out for some unconventional ways that you can participate in this latest of my social impact experiments online.   Read more...

Recently we conducted a staff retreat workshop where we used Appreciative Inquiry (AI), a process developed by David Cooperrider in the 80s at Case Western Reserve. This process invites individuals and groups to inquire about the positive, best practices in an organization or system. AI compels us towards appreciating the wholeness of an organization and away from problem solving. Learn more about what we did with Appreciative Inquiry here www.colemansmithllc.com/2008/09/16/appreciative-inquiry/.   Read more...

Regular home cleaning contributes to better health for your family and visitors. Many popular chemical-based cleaning products, however, contain powerful chemical toxins that may negatively affect human health. In an increasingly polluted world, a greater number of families strive to make our homes relatively safe havens in which our families thrive - not sources of toxic chemical loads.

  Read more...

Books, indeed, illuminate our lives. But you also need good light - as in honest-to-God lumens, hard-core wattage. The Enlightenments, a lamp in the form of a book, combines these principles, with a nod, alls well, to the 18th-century age of reason. The Enlightenments is available from its creator, Studiomeiboom Communication, a Dutch design firm, which will give 10 percent to the Edukans Fund, a charitable organization. The purchase price is €89.00, exclusive carriage costs. www.lightupyourworld.nl   Read more...

Norway will donate $1 billion to Brazil's Amazon protection fund through 2015, Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg said on Tuesday, to help Brazil fight deforestation.

Norway, the first country to pledge money to the fund, will donate as much as $130 million next year, the Norwegian Embassy in Brasilia said.

Via: reuters.com   Read more...

AT&T announced today that 172 schools and nonprofit organizations across the country will receive $29 million in competitively awarded grants that are designed to support high school retention programs at national and local levels for at-risk students.

The recipient programs of this year's High School Success grants provide a range of support for students, including academic intervention, academic coaching and mentoring and tutoring services that are focused on improving reading and math skills, reducing truancy and building teen confidence. The recipient programs are managed by a variety of governmental and nonprofit organizations, including school districts, townships and education-serving nonprofit organizations.   Read more...